New York 22 March 1981

 After listening to recordings from more modern times recently, I have today decided today to dig back to 1981. I like these early shows- no Purple Rain, no dancers, no sampler sets- just the music. The word that always comes to mind is ‘raw’ and although it’s almost a cliché, it is entirely true. Prince is raw, both musically and visually, and I can connect to the younger him on stage. I will be watching a show from 1981, and there aren’t too many shows circulating on video from this time, it’s certainly not like nowadays when there seems to be a camera at every show. I love this show, but it’s been some time since I last saw it, so I look forward to reacquainting myself with it. 

 

22 March 1981, The Ritz, New York 

The first thing I hear is the bass snap of “Do It All Night” and the simmering synth riff. Prince appears bathed in dry ice, and I already love this show. It’s got such a classic feel to it, it’s hard not to be swept along on a high. Prince’s vocals are nice and pure, and the bass in particular sounds great. The whole recording is very clean, it is a treat to listen to. The band certainly looks like they are ready to rock, however, the song doesn’t require it and they are nicely restrained. There is a cool moment in the show when Prince calls Andre and Dez to walk and the three of them pull a nice little move off together. Prince is a little quiet, that is by no means a criticism as his vocals are so crisp. 

 

The rock part of the gig starts next as Dez throws himself energetically into “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad.” There are a few squeals from the crowd as Prince sings his lines, but it’s at the chorus that the song takes off. Both Andre and Dez put a lot of energy into it, and I feel it elevates the song considerably. There is also a nice moment as Prince and Dez strike their classic guitar gods pose. I can just about sing Prince's guitar break note for note as I have heard it so many times, and it gets my heart pumping now just as much as it did 30 years ago. It has been a good while since I last heard this song, and I had forgotten how much enjoyment I get out of it. Prince’s second guitar break is more interesting, he is backed by the keyboards, and they ably match him. The song isn’t as long as I have sometimes heard, and it leaves me wanting more as Prince brings it to a close. 

 

“We’re going to do something for the rude people” has me wondering what he is going to play next, and I am pleasantly surprised as Prince croons his way through “Gotta Broken Heart Again.” Not only is his singing gentle on the ear, but there is also some delicate piano and guitar play which has me paying close attention. The song doesn’t contain anything in the way of surprise, and that is a surprise in itself and Prince keeps it simple. He does indulge in some vocal play at the end of the song before it comes to a close with that piano again. This song is great, and I’m doing it a disservice by not writing more about it. 

I wrote about “Broken” when I covered his 81 show at Sams Minneapolis, and here it once again appears. Its rockabilly style feels a little out of place, but in retrospect, it’s nothing like the stylistic jumps later in his career. I like Prince's vocals, his singing at this time is a nice falsetto, it’s just the music in this song is so slight it leaves me feeling hollow. 

 

Bobby Z gets to play a nice long intro to “When You Were Mine,” before Prince comes in with his guitar. The song isn’t as strong as I like, there are certainly much stronger versions floating around. It’s played well though, and I can’t fault it in any way. Prince looks incredibly young, and it’s hard to believe he’s lived the experiences he is singing about. The breakdown is normally longer than what we hear on this recording, and after a quick line Prince jumps back into the song. It’s all very fine, but I get the feeling that something needs to be turned up to 11 to make the song jump. 

 

“Gotta Stop Messing About” sounds good, so I am surprised to see how static the audience is. Andre’s bass is the star for me throughout this song, he has a nice pop going in my left ear. Dez and Andre both contribute backing vocals to Prince and it does add a more manly sound to the song, although the synth squiggle undoes some of that. Prince does bounce and bob, and yet the song never really ignites and comes to an end leaving me wishing it was something more. 

I hear a funky guitar play and the rhythmic pattern of “Sexy Dancer” played on the cymbals and my spirits lift. The main elements of the song are Prince's guitar and his vocals, and that’s no bad thing at all. There is a keyboard solo, but I find myself still listening to Prince's guitar as it plays. The song becomes a dance after about halfway, with plenty of bass, guitars, and a nice easy chant rolling over and over. There is a brief guitar break from Prince that becomes more and more and we get a good couple of minutes of him playing rhythm guitar center stage. I was about to dismiss the rest of the band, but Dr. Fink plays a cool solo, complete with bobbing head and jerking motions. I love ya Doc! 

 

I don’t recall the last time I listened to “Sister.” Some days I love it, and some days I dismiss it as a throwaway piece. I like seeing the performance here, but truthfully I could probably live without it. It’s hard to be critical of something so brief, so it’s with pleasure we move to the next song. 

“I Want To Be Your Lover” is a slab of pure pop, and it’s hard for me to reconcile between the look of Dirty Mind era Prince and the pop sound of the song. In later years he would joke with the lyric “Ain’t got no money (now that’s a lie)” but I have to say looking at him here, he looks like he’s got no money. As good as his vocals sound, for this song it’s the rhythm guitar of Dez that I focus on. Not just the chorus, but also the verses his guitar sound is fantastic. I don’t think I had noticed it earlier, but now it’s all I can hear. As befitting a pop song it finishes after three minutes and we move on to something much darker, and funkier. 

 

There is no better sound than that of Prince and the band grooving on the intro of “Head.” That opening synth stab and the delicious sound of the guitars before Prince intones his opening lines, all of it is great for me. I would love this even if it was a bad performance, but then again how often does that happen? This one is great, and right at the start there is a fantastic shot of a very young Lisa Coleman singing her lines, the show is worth seeing just for that alone. Another highlight is seeing Dr. Fink doing what he does best, and I swear one day I am going to learn how to dance like that. Prince looks somewhat like Mick Jagger as he leads the crowd into singing “head”, and there is plenty of strutting and prancing. The band hit their straps at this point, and all of them look like they are feeling the groove as they play. Andre in particular puts on a great show. For many years the highlight of this song has been the second half as Prince engages in his guitar noise and showmanship. Seeing it as well as hearing it is a bonus, and even though I have heard it a lot I still find myself watching transfixed as Prince plays. The last few minutes are epic as Prince plays lead, rhythm, and masturbates with his guitar. I can’t help but think of the word ‘raw’ again. And ‘awesome’ 

 

Things take another change as “Still Waiting” is the next song played. Dr. Fink again is a star with his piano playing carrying the song early on. Prince is once again at his crooning best, I may not catch all the words but I catch his meaning. The song has a gentle elegance to it during the chorus and the lights come up slightly as the music rises. Prince steps out from behind the microphone stand and engages with the audience with his looks and vocal performance, and I find myself warming to him much more here. Prince shows more of his star power as later in the song he sings under a single spotlight and we hear some of his great falsetto. Prince directs the band to finish the song and with a final vocal flourish it ends. 

 

The show does go for longer, but sadly the video footage ends here, and so must my blog entry. 

It’s very hard for me to write objectively about any show from this time. I am a lifelong fan of Prince, and I listen to all sorts of shows, but some years are better for me than others. Give me anything from 1981, 1986, or 1995 and I am about as happy as I can be. This isn’t the best from this time, but seeing it does give it some extra merit. There are only a few shows documented on video from this time, so I do treat this one with reverence. A good show, and a nice video, it’s got plenty going for it, it’s just a shame it wasn’t the whole show or a more impassioned performance. A worthy addition to the collection and worth watching a couple of times a year. 

Minneapolis 9 March 1981

 Looking through my collection, I see that 1981 was a pretty good year. Prince was evolving fast, and there is a nice spread of recordings from this year to document this. There are DVDs capturing both Dirty Mind and Controversy shows and plenty of audio recordings of both tours. I have gone for a recording taken earlier in the year of 1981 for today’s blog post. It would have been very easy to pull the excellent Houston gig from the Controversy tour later in the year, or a DVD of one of the Dirty Mind shows, but I have instead taken a listen to a show from early March. It is a recording taken in Prince's hometown, and although the quality isn’t as good as some of the other shows I have mentioned, the fact that it is in Minneapolis is interesting for me, and I am hoping that we get something special due to this fact. 

9 March 1981, Sams, Minneapolis 

Prince immediately acknowledges that this is a homecoming gig- when the recording begins the first things we hear him say are “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”. The recording is thick and I do initially have trouble making out what he is saying. However, it’s by no means unlistenable, and once the music starts it’s not too bad, the music is nice and deep and strong, but disappointingly the vocals remain incomprehensible. But for an audience recording of this age, I can’t say it's a surprise to me. The first song played is “Do It All Night.” It has a nice aggressive start, with several thrusts before it begins proper. The guitar and drums are what I can hear best, but during the chorus, the noise pulls back just enough for me to hear the keyboards. There is a drum break and Prince gets the crowd to sing along “do it all night”. They sound full of energy, and it’s an enjoyable moment. Bobby Z closes the song with plenty of cymbals and we move easily into “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad. “

 

Prince’s vocals become clearer on this part of the recording, and I think the recording picks up his lower register much better than his falsetto. This is bared out when he gets to the chorus and again the vocals distort. The interaction between the bass and guitar is worth listening to, you can hear them intertwining and it’s something I hadn’t noticed before. The first half of Prince's guitar break is the same as I have heard plenty of times, it sounds good, but I don’t pay it too much attention. But immediately after he says “Why you wanna treat me so bad, bitch!” the guitar really heats up, and this grabs me straight away. It’s aggressive and loud, and it is the stomping sort of solo that I like to hear. Bobby Z adds weight to this with plenty of crashes late in the break, before it all stops for Prince to give us another 30 seconds of guitar howl to end the song. A slow start, but excellent finish- this one surprised me. 

“Gotta Broken Heart Again” subdues the mood, and it feels very calm and smooth after the previous song. The piano is lost in the recording somewhat, and it’s all Prince and the bass that I can hear. I do catch snatches of the piano, but I have to listen carefully. The song itself does sound good, and Prince's vocals are better on this than in the previous two songs. The song gets better as it goes, and there is some nice guitar and cymbal interplay. Again it heightens my appreciation of Bobby Z and how much he was part of Prince’s set up in the early days. There is a long gentle finish with Prince singing with only piano, and it does have a better sound to it than the first part of the song. 

Next, we get “Broken,” a track that has never been released by Prince. It was played several times on the Dirty Mind tour, but here is its first live appearance. Over hand claps Prince sings the opening few lines before a rockabilly piano enters and the energy jumps up. It sounds slight, and awkwardly out of place. But I do like it, especially the backing vocals of the band and their call and response with Prince. As with all his songs in this style it is short, there’s just enough time for a piano break before the song quickly ends. 

 

I am back in the more familiar territory next with the sound of the drum intro to “When You Were Mine.” The guitar comes on board, but due to the recording it doesn’t have the crisp clean sound I am used to, and the same could be said for Prince’s vocals, I know what he is singing, but I have to listen very carefully to make them out. As always, the keyboards sound joyful and full. The solo is a little quiet for my liking, but it’s still good. Prince doesn’t dwell too long on the breakdown as he does on some shows, and the song moves along at a good pace. It doesn’t have the passionate howls near the end as we get on the Controversy tour, it’s a nice rendition, but better was still to come later in the year. 

Some nice rhythm guitar followed by a Prince scream begins us into “Sexy Dancer.” The tone and attitude are just right on this one, and the music itself does sound like a sexy dancer. The music is strong, but there is a nice funk guitar slithering underneath that gives it a sexy feel. There is a lot of crowd noise, and I guess Prince is doing some sort of sexy dance. It doesn’t matter that I can’t see it, as there is plenty for me to listen to. There is plenty of time for a keyboard break and some more funky rhythm guitar. The rhythm guitar is a little low when it gets its break, but I can still hear it OK. The piano keyboard that follows is the best part of the song for me, it plays for a while, both doing its own thing, as well as interacting with the rest of the band. The song ends right after this with a bubble of electronic noise. 

“Sister” takes us in another direction entirely, it's upbeat, noisy, and brash. Again Prince's vocals are loud but I can’t make out his words, and it's probably just as well in this case! The rest of the band plays with energy, and the song is over in less than two minutes. It was almost a diversion rather than a song. 

 

The pop sounds of “I Wanna Be Your Lover” follows next. I have always preferred the live versions of this compared to the album version, they seem to have more intensity and grit to them. This is no exception, the crowd loves this one, and the band does play it well. The bass and Prince are picked up best by the recording, so the keyboard sound is secondary to the bass. I’m sure that’s not the case, but on this recording that’s what I can hear best. It’s not a bad thing I do enjoy grooving along to the bass, and Prince's vocals almost have me singing along. The coda is relatively short and it’s a nice lead-in to what I know is coming next. 

A blast on the keyboard signals the beginning of “Head.” I have never heard a version of “Head” that I didn’t love, and this one is no exception. Right from the start there is plenty of screams and yells from the crowd and I am right with them. Even on audience recordings “Head” still pops out of the speakers at me nice and strong. The keyboard stabs are captured well by the recording and of course the bass and Prince vocals. The audience sings enthusiastically throughout, and at one stage are chanting “head, head, head, head, head” There is an interesting little drum roll into a quirky keyboard break that I hadn’t heard before. It’s after Dr. Finks's main solo, and I can’t explain it well, but I do like it. The song quiets down to just bass and cymbals, and the crowd can be heard chanting ” you gonna have to fight your own damn war, we don’t want to fight no more” A very cool moment before some keyboard stabs and Prince's guitar begins. After some guitar noodling the keyboard comes faster than I had heard before and again it’s an interesting variation on a song I have heard plenty of times. It ends not as I expect with the strong sound of Prince's guitar, but instead just sort of fades to an end. Surprising, but very enjoyable. 

“Still Waiting” lacks the intensity of the last two songs, and the audience can’t be heard as much either. It seems lackluster after listening to 10 minutes of "Head." But it’s not a bad song, so I am beginning to question its placement in the setlist. The sound is better on this, I find it easy to listen to and Prince's vocals sound sweet, although I still can’t understand what he is singing. The song takes a big upswing halfway through, the recording changes, as Prince screams and the drums crash over the top. There is then another quiet passage of just Prince and the band singing, which is pretty much as good as it gets in this song. It’s a cool moment, but then the rest of the song doesn’t do much for me as the recording deteriorates. 

 

“Partyup” has a much tighter feel to it, and isn’t as bass-heavy as other songs on the recording. The keyboards are more to the fore, and although I can’t hear the guitar as well the vocals do sound better. The song is played as we know it from the record, so there aren’t any surprises to be heard. There is plenty of noise, and a keyboard from Dr. Fink and the drums are nicely in the mix too. It’s played for what it is, an audience pleaser, and you do hear the audience chanting near the end, and all the while Dr. Fink keeps the keyboard noise going. It does sound just like on the album, but it runs out to eight minutes here, as the end is played out and the crowd begins chanting, although you can barely hear them due to the glorious racket the band is making. 

There is a brief pause and then the band returns with “Uptown.” I have always thought that “Uptown” is thematically very similar to “Partyup,” so I was surprised to hear them side by side on this recording. Uptown is much better than “Partyup” here, and I enjoy it much more. It’s got a clean sound and is very danceable. There is some excellent guitar work and a great solo. Unfortunately, it’s very quiet on the recording, but it does sound fantastic. The band stops and there is plenty more guitar that I can barely hear. A shame, but that is the way with audience recordings. There is a drumbeat that begins some more guitar playing, but it all sounds like it’s far away. 

The ever-reliable Bobby Z plays us into “Crazy You.” A song I very rarely listen to, here I find it a real high point. The keyboard and bass bob along just nicely, and even though again I struggle to hear Prince I do like the melody. There is some gentle guitar playing which I do hear better, and it lures me in well. In the second half, the song moves along faster and louder but still retains its nice groove. There isn’t much in the way of singing, but I do like all of it. The guitar plays over the groove for a good two or three minutes and it’s excellent. 

“Gotta Stop (messin about)” doesn’t sound as fast as it does on record, and it is much better for it. The raw guitar tone and the steady drums rolls work well. The keyboards aren’t as strong as they were earlier. I like Prince’s vocals, but the lyrics do start getting repetitive, but I could listen to the groove all day. I am surprised when it suddenly ends, but I see that it was played for quite a while, I must have been lost in the music. 

The pounding beat of “Dirty Mind” next, and that great driving keyboard riff. The recording lacks the intensity and energy of other shows, Prince’s vocals are too lost in the mix, and I can’t hear any guitar. Even the parts where I know he is yelling in the microphone still sound very quiet. To compensate though, Bobby Z and his drums sound great, and I especially like the hard electric noise he gets from them. The song lacks something without the guitar sound, and it’s one of the weaker recordings I have of this song. I can hear the guitar later in the song, but it’s mostly Bobby Z that I can hear with his drums. 

Prince tells us “we are running out of songs” before he plays “Everybody Dance.” As with “Broken,” this song never made it onto an album and was only played at a few shows on this tour. There isn’t too much to the song, just a keyboard lead groove, and Prince sings “everybody, everybody dance” He does mix it up a little with lines such as “everybody, everybody say yeah” but there is nothing more in the way of lyrics. Even the groove doesn’t vary much and I can see why we didn’t hear much more of this song. But it is good to hear unreleased songs from this era, and I do enjoy it for its novelty value. It does outstay its welcome by a good couple of minutes, and there are no tears from me as it ends. 

 

The grinding guitar of “Bambi” takes us to the last song of the evening. The power of the song is neutered by the recording, but it’s still good to hear it. With the recording being weak, it’s mostly Prince's vocals that I listen to, he is finishing the gig strongly, and his voice is standing up well against the drums and guitar. The first half of the song sounds a little mundane, but things pick up later when Prince begins to play his solo. Unfortunately, the recording ends here, and we don’t get to hear the end of the song. 

There was plenty to like about this recording, and plenty to dislike. I did enjoy the fact that there were a couple of rarities in the setlist, and the hometown crowd added a warm atmosphere to the show. However, at times the limitations of the recording did mar my enjoyment of the show. I have listened to plenty of audience recordings, and this one is by no means terrible, but there are some songs where I didn’t quite get all the sounds that I might have otherwise wanted to hear. A good show, with a less-than-average recording, it was still worth a listen. Something I would listen to once every few years rather than something I would give a high rotation to. 

Carolina 16 March 1980

I want to go back to the beginning. I have previously taken an in-depth listen to two of the three shows from the Rick James Tour (the Omni recording, and the Lakeland recording), and this week I will complete the currently circulating shows from this tour with a concert just eight days after the Lakeland concert, and a mere twelve days from the earliest Prince concert in circulation – The Omni concert from March 6th, 1980.

Although these three bootlegs all fall in quick succession, each has its own personality and feel, making each one a unique listening experience. Today’s bootleg is the shortest of the three, (eight minutes shorter than the Omni bootleg, and fourteen minutes shorter than the Lakeland recording). I have done some research in regards to this, and the concert recording appears to be complete, it just happens to be a shorter show than normal with a couple of songs dropped from the setlist. So with that in mind, I am fully prepared for a short sharp shot to the system as I crank this recording up in the early Sunday morning here. 

16th March 1980. Carolina Coliseum, Colombia 

The band opens with “Boogie Intro” and only eight days after the Lakeland concert it is sounding a lot rawer and more dirtied up, the guitars growling with barely restrained aggression, while the synth does little to defuse this general feeling, it’s squiggles and noodles barely light decoration across the far more solid and unrelenting guitar drive. There is a sense of showmanship with some of the guitar work, but the main riff is all muscle, tough and sinewy. 

Although “Soft And Wet” doesn’t grab me in the same way that the opening “Boogie Intro” did, it is nevertheless warm and inviting, with the music sounding playful against Prince’s lyrics. It does threaten to become a purely pop vehicle for Prince to ride, but a midsong guitar break gives it a jolt of energy that elevates it beyond pop pulp. 

 The guitar sound that has threatened to rise in these first two songs is finally unleashed for “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” and immediately conquers all in its path with a sound that at first supports and elevates the song, before later running off on its own and making the latter half a pure guitar onslaught. I like it both ways, but in the end, it is the latter stages of the song that remain most memorable for me, as the guitar becomes the musical manifestation of all Prince has been singing about, and his inner hurt and anger are released in the shriek and howl of the guitar before Prince ends it by returning to the simple groove and the heart of the song. 

 The recording is warm for “Still Waiting” and Prince and the band linger on the opening, giving us a slow descent into the emotional body of the song. From the descent, the next five minutes we slowly rise again, until we hit a high point when the band, Prince, and the underlying emotion, all boil over before Prince brings it back to a gentle simmer for the remainder of the song. It’s a seductive piece, it seduces me almost unknowingly, it wasn’t until much later in the song that I realized how close I was listening and how invested I was in the music. This is a surprise package and one that carries this center point of the show before the final two songs take us out on a high. 

 The band introductions are lowkey, and very respectful, as Prince takes the time to name-check each band member. The music returns to the fore with an extended work out of “Sexy Dancer.” It doesn’t have any fizz to it, instead, it stays an easy groove, albeit one with its own natural way as it swells and rises as if it was breathing. Of note is the keyboard solo that sounds like a classic 1970’s cocaine-fueled jam that was heard on so many albums of the late 70s, updated and modernized for Prince’s more musically propelled sound as he brings the disco feel into a 1980’s context. Of course, the song is furnished with a guitar solo, this one sitting lower in the mix, only breaking cover as it builds into a flurry of notes. 

I said earlier that I thought this was a complete recording, but there is a fade at the end of “Sexy Dancer” that suggests otherwise. There may be more to this show, but it is hard to make a definite statement one way or the other. Prince’s set finishes with his major song of the time – “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” Although poppy, it doesn’t snap or crackle in the way I expect, and initially it doesn’t interest me. However it runs for ten minutes, and the second half of the song is given over entirely to a groove aimed at making the crowd move, while some guitar work arrives pitched squarely at creating an interstellar sound, a sound that I am mesmerized by, an audacious move for a pop song, and especially one that is playing to a pop audience. Prince is certainly creating a splash, and as an ending for the bootleg, it is perfect as I immediately want to hear the next step in this evolution. Like a good book, Prince’s music keeps me wanting to read the next chapter. 

 Short, yet highly enjoyable. Of course, I whole heartily recommend this bootleg to anyone who follows the early part of Prince's career and his trajectory to the top. An impressive soundboard recording, this is one bootleg that I am sure will only grow in stature with time. It has been circulating for a while now, and I am sure that those who follow the bootleg world are well aware of where to hear this. As always, it comes highly recommended by me. 

Lakeland 8 March 1980

What's better than a soundboard from 1981? A soundboard from 1980! I have just taken my first listen to the new Eye Records release I’m Just A Freak and I have to say, I am most impressed. Not so much the release itself, but the music contained within. The music is fresh and exciting, and listening to it gives me the same feelings I had when I first started listening to Prince bootlegs thirty years ago, I am reborn as a fan as I am baptized by the music as if for the first time. So, let us rewind the clock and kneel at the alter of this recording, and in particular pay respect to the first concert of the set, 8th March 1980 at Lakeland, Florida. 

8th March 1980, Lakeland, Florida 

The “Boogie Intro” has me agape from the very first moment. It is a rambunctious ball of all that Prince does, a four-minute blast that encapsulates all his sounds and genres. From the opening groove underpinned with the brute strength of Prince’s guitar riff to the fantastically electric wonder of Dr. Fink's synth solo, we are immediately transported into Prince's world. I shouldn’t read too much into this opening number, but already I can hear funk, rock, and hints of the Minneapolis sound that will come in later years. It is an engaging opening that never wavers from its unflinching servitude to the groove, no matter what euphoric sounds Prince pulls from his guitar, the dance floor is firmly in mind. 

 

On top of the cyclone of an intro, “Soft And Wet” plays as per its title, it is both soft and wet in comparison. It is only halfway through the song that the first musical punch is thrown, and the second half is a feisty drunk in comparison to the first sober minute. It does sound gorgeous in this quality though, and it only suffers in comparison to the earlier song. 

The concert takes the phrase hot and heavy and makes come alive in the music they are playing. “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” bleeds a warmth through the recording, and Prince and Dez bring a heavier sound with their twin guitar onslaught. It's not about a wall of noise however, they play with a sparkling finesse that provides wings for the song to soar above such earthly sounds. If not grounded by Bobby Z’s insistent drive the song would threaten to disappear in its own swirl of smoke and mirrors, instead Bob is the captain who keeps it moored as he underpins Prince’s flight of fancy. 

Prince stakes out his genre-hopping style as he tackles a ballad, in this case “Still Waiting.” He plays it with a breezy style, there is space throughout the song and Prince feels no need to overcomplicate it with sound. It is a thoughtful performance and has a wistfulness to it that lies just beyond my ability to articulate. It's an immersive experience, the schmaltzy synths a canvas for Prince to paint his vocals across. 

 

After the color and sophistication of some of this earlier material, “Bambi” sounds positively caveman-like. It plays as a battering ram, Prince clubbing us early with his muscular guitar riffs, but for me the real joy comes later in the song when he shakes off these rock cliches and plays his solos with his unique electric fury. There is the feeling that I have heard it all before, but the unhinged final minutes awaken the fan inside me and I am caught up in this wave of untamed big guitar sheen. 

The band introductions are timely, especially as “Sexy Dancer” is the moment when we can hear Andre and his bass in all its glory. With its nagging hook, it is all about the dance floor, and even if I can’t see it I can certainly feel it in the low end. A coherent amalgamation of all the band’s talents, I am particularly taken by the sumptuous synth solo, yet lies entirely within the groove, always remaining slave to the beat. Andre’s bass solo goes one better and leaves me full of regret that it isn’t longer, but the final guitar solo on the song cleanses me of any such thoughts and makes a strident statement across what had been a disco song. 

There is a clutter about “Just As Long As We’re Together” and initially I am not drawn to it in the same way as I am with some of the other numbers. Prince is forceful though, and already he and the band are good enough to win me over with their evolving styles and hybrid sound. The bass and guitar battle to hold my attention, and I am the real winner as both are relentless in their drive for a petulant funk sound. Andre is thrilling in the bass lines he creates, I expect this of Prince with guitar, but Andre’s finesse and blistering skills are a revelation to me – this is exactly why I collect bootlegs so passionately. 

   

The show finishes with a strutting version of “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” From the first riff ringing out in the darkness it is a moment to stand up and celebrate the pure pop sound that lies at the heart of Prince’s music. Infectious and uplifting, there is nothing more to wish for, this concert may only be eight songs, but it holds everything you could want from Prince. The pop sound may reignite the audience, but Prince pulls the rug from under them as the final half of the song becomes an extended jam that touches on the bases already covered by Prince. He touches on the first base of pop, before sliding into the second base of funk. From here it is a helter-skelter sprint for third base and his strong rock sound. The home run comes as all these are amalgamated in one glorious sound that can only be described as “Prince.” The music acts as a time machine, and this final jam has me right back in 1980, I am with Prince and the band every step of the way as they bring the concert to a close. 

These Rick James concerts by Prince are short, but that matters not one bit as he crams every sound and genre he can into a short sharp setlist. Each song comes as a jolt as he continues to change direction, but always the music is focused and delivers a powerful experience. Eye records have done us all a favor with this release, these concerts are part of Prince's legacy and an important part of his story that the estate is not telling, He was about the live performance as much as the studio, and this raw unfiltered Prince deserves every piece of coverage he gets. This will be on my player for a long, long time to come, and with every listen I remember just how electrifying Prince was in the 1980s. 

Atlanta 6 March 1980

I was only young when Prince was first starting out, so I have no memories of his first tours and performances. But I have read a lot about his earlier shows, and it’s apparent that he was great right from the start. Today I will be listening to a show from 1980 when he was opening for Rick James. By all accounts, he gave Rick a run for his money every night, and this show seems to confirm this. 

6 March 1980. Omni, Atlanta 

For the age of the recording, it is surprisingly good and crisp. It doesn’t start with a roar as you might expect, just a nice beat provided by Bobby Z. The keys join in very soon and it’s straight into “Soft and Wet.” I have a couple of immediate impressions. The first is that the band sounds very accurate and it sounds very much like the album recording. I expected something a little more rugged like the recordings I have heard of the Dirty Mind and Controversy eras. My second impression is that Bobby Z is very good. I enjoy his playing here, it’s not stand out spectacular, but very solid. The song sounds great, good enough that it makes me want to go back and listen to the original. It sounds just as sharp as it does on record, the only real moment it deviates is the 1.40-minute mark when there is a brief guitar moment. It’s held in pretty tight, and the rest of the song is played straight. 

 

The guitars take a step forward after Prince introduces “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad,” in his high/shy voice. But as soon as the song starts he sounds much stronger again, so I assume he was shy about speaking and preferred to let his music speak for him. The song isn’t as loud and in your face as can be heard on later tours, but it's fresh sounding. In particular, the bass has a good fat sound here. The guitars are all over it, but they are pulled back in the mix much more than I have heard elsewhere. The guitar solos start rather tentatively but pick up as the song goes on. They sound a little thin in places, but still, bring a smile to my face. The second half of the song is the highlight for me. After the guitar break and the song moves into the second half Prince sings “why you wanna treat me so bad? is it the clothes I wear? why you wanna treat me so bad? is it the style my hair?” and another couple of lines. It all sounds great as the guitar chugs along nicely underneath. 

 

A nice little change of pace next, as Prince brings us down with “Still Waiting.” I would love to see some footage of this show, I would like to see who is playing what. “Still Waiting” has a nice little keyboard intro, I want to say it's Prince, but that’s just guessing, and a little wishful thinking. Still Waiting is beautiful. It’s a forgotten song in my collection, and listening here I want to grab out the first couple of albums and give them a week in the car. Again, I am amazed at how good the band sound, everything is very clean, and I can’t fault a single note. It’s not very rock n roll, but it’s fantastic on my stereo. Things take an upswing about the five-minute mark, and nice drum fill by Bobby, and then the ever-familiar Prince falsetto wailing. He sounds so young, and already so good. I can’t see the crowd, but I imagine some young ladies are passing out about now. 

There is a pause as Prince introduces the band, although it takes him a few seconds to quieten the crowd – “shhhh, Atlanta, shhh” The Prince I know and love becomes apparent as he introduces himself “I’m just a freak baby” Its a moment in the recording when I smile to myself. “I Feel For You” is very vibrant, and I guess most of the crowd is moving to it. The keyboard isn’t too strong, and the bass is more prominent. It gets two thumbs up from me. In fact, every song on this recording sounds great, it's hard to say one is a highlight or any better than another. During the bridge, Prince hits us with his faux seduction. He starts with “there’s so much I want to do to you”, and then goes on to mention his desires, before the music ups again, and dirty Prince starts “When I’m with you, all I want to do is screw you” Very funny, it seems in contrast to the rest of the song, but gives a true indication of what Prince was about in the earlier days. Straight after this Dez plays hard for a minute, and in the last couple of minutes of the song we see the template for the Dirty Mind/Controversy albums to follow. 

 

The bass is fantastic in “Sexy Dancer,” much louder and more popping than I have previously heard. I wish the album version was more like this, I would play it more often if it was. This for me is the most surprising song on the recording. Normally I would have “Sexy Dancer” on, but wouldn’t give it much attention, but on this recording, I can’t ignore it. I listened raptly to the bass and guitar interplay. Weaved in with the keyboard, it casts quite a spell. The band plays this one to death and the keyboards towards the end are well worth giving attention to. Things get even better when Prince says “Andre…” and we get a minute of bass work. I was just thinking, “Wow, this is a great song, the band is stretching out” and then the guitar enters for its turn. It’s fast and tight. Even with all the fretwork the song never once threatens to become rock, and I love it even more for this. 

 

“Just As Long As We’re Together” begins with Prince asking “Is everyone wet?” The song has a nice little feel to it, and I love it when Prince sings “I gotta always have you in my hair” – a foretelling of things to come. Once again I find myself listening to mostly the keyboards and Bobby Z on the drums. The song flies by and I find it finishing before I have properly composed any thoughts about it. There is another change near the end and some nice interplay between the keys and the guitars. In fact, the whole band locks in very nicely and keeps it going for some time. Andre again is impressive on the bass, and again I find myself wishing there was some footage of this. I am very surprised, the song goes for 10 minutes, but it's always interesting, and it is one of the most enjoyable parts of the gig for me. 

Prince thanks the crowd, and then encourages them to get up as the band plays “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” Like every song on this recording, the playing is so good that it’s hard to believe it’s live. The band is obviously very well-rehearsed and drilled. There’s not much to say about this song, all the elements of it that we know so well are there, and sound just as good as ever. I was thinking that this gig was pristine, and missing the grittiness that I often enjoy, but there are 30 seconds of guitar work near the end that remind me that it is a live show. It’s not too much, just enough to give it a live dirty sound. Again the band stretches it out after the three-minute mark and it heads off into the territory I love, and good groove and some jamming. The whole thing winds up about with Prince exhorting the crowd “Yea……yea…….yea!” then in a flash it is over. 

Although very short, this recording is very highly recommended. The quality of the recording is excellent, and Prince and the band sound great. As I said earlier, I was impressed by how sharp they were. Although not as nitty-gritty as the live recordings I normally enjoy, you cannot fault a band for being so sharp and good. There are plenty of indications as we listen here of what will come in the future, but this is hindsight, I don’t think at the time I would have guessed. All in all a great peek into the beginnings of the legend.